James madison kelly



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shet 1.

` J.M.KELLY.

STEETGHING AND SUPPORTING DEVICE lEUR WIRE EENGES.

No. 361,223. Patented Apr. 12, 1887.

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ATTORNEYS (No Model.)

STRETCHING AND SUPPORTING ADEVICE POR WIRE FBNCES.

No. 361,223. Patented Apr, 12.1887.

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Y the ilanged castings.

c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES MADISON KELLY, OF KINGSTON, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HENRY HOLLENSBE, OF SAME PLACE. l I

STRETCHING AND SUPPORTING DEVICE FOR WIRE FENCES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 361,223l dated April 12, 1887.

Application filed November-1, 1886. Serial No.' 217.711. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it 'may concern: y

Beit known that I, JAMES MADISON KELLY, a citizen of thevUnited States, and a resident of Kingston, in the county of Decatur and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stretching and Supporting Devices for Wire Fences; and l do declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact descrip tion of theinventiomsuch as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or tigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure l of the drawings is an elevation of a section of my improved fence. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of one of the castings supporting the wires. Fig. 3 is a view of one of the stretchers. Fig. 4. is asectional view of the same. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the key. Fig. 6 is a perspective view ofthe cornerpost. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view showing the manner of connecting the fence-wire to the stay-bars.

My invention relates to fences; and it consists in the construction and novel combination of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A designates the ground-sills ofthe fence. The ground-sills are preferably about six feet long and are embedded in the ground in ahorizontal positionabout fourfeet below the surface. The ground-sills arenotched transversely in their upper faces to receive the lower ends of the brace-posts B.

C designates brace-rods or metallic tie-rod which pass through the groundsills near one end thereof, and are secured by nuts N. The tie-rods C also pass through the 'brace-posts near the upper endsof the latter, and are secured at their upper ends by nuts O.

Q designates the fence-posts, which are set in the ground in the usual manner, but are also set to about the same depth as the braceposts are.

R and S designate the gate-posts, which are of the same length as the brace-posts, and are set in the ground about the same depth, but do not rest on sills. Between the gate-posts, however, are placed anchor-blocks K, which prevent the lower ends of said gate-posts from ,approaching each other when the strain of the wires comes upon them. A tie-wire, J, con? nects the gate-posts R and S at the surface of the ground and receives thelateral strain that comes upon said gate-posts above the ground.

T designates a corner-post, which is also a brace-post and rests upon asill, A, embeddedin the ground. The postT is braced by two brace rods, C U, one of which is connected to the sill A of said corner-post and the other to a sill,M,

of the corner-posts, I employ a ilanged cast-l ing, K, which tits the angle of the post, and is secured to the post by nails.

The flanged casting Kis provided with roll ers LL between its flanges, to prevent the .wires from making angular bends at the cornerposts, which angular bends, if they occurred, would interfere with the stretching of the wires over the corner-posts, as Ido not break the 'wires at the corner-posts, as is now commonly done, but continue them along said posts..

At the brace-posts B, I provide a stretcher, P, for each fence-wire H. rlhe stretcher consists of a flanged casting, m,between the flanges n of which is journaled a flanged windingdrum, o, one end of the shaft 19 of which is made rectangular in cross-section to receive a crank, by which the drum is operated to stretch or tighten the wire,or to relax the wire should the latter become too taut in cold weather.

naled in a key hole or seat, c, iu the base of 10o the casting m. l

Y designates the key by which the detent Z is turned to engage the drnnl o and to disengage therefrom when necessary.

I is a casting having a tapered tang, c, projecting from the rear edge of its vertical por tion d, the portion d being provided at its ends `zvith integral arms ef, having eyes at their ends. A flanged spool, g, which serves as a wire-carrier, is slipped upon either the upper or lower arm of the casting l', as maybe necessary to engage the fence-wire, and serves as a carrier for the wire to reduce the friction that results when tightening the wires. In some instances the fence-wire would bear against the upper arm of the casting. The carrier or friction sleeve or spool g should then be placed on the upper arln of the casting. In other eases the wire will bear downwardly, and in that case the spool or friction-sleeve should be placed on the lower arm of the casting. The sleeve l is prevented from slipping from place hy a rod, It, secured in eyes ofthe casting. To place the sleeve in the proper po sition it is only necessary to hold the castingin the desired position at the time of drivin git into the fencepost.

To prevent the fence-wires from sagging be tween the posts, and to hold them the proper distances apart, I employ stay-bars i, which I connect to the fence-wire by wire stays k,which I secure in a holein the upper end ofcach staybar, and then carry said wire k around each fence-wire at each edge of the stay-bar until each fencewire has been embraced bythestay-` l wire k, and finally secure the stay-Wire to the wooden stay-bar near the lower end of the latter. In this way the stay-bar will always be held in a vertical position, and the fence-wires will be eftect-ually stayed without interfering with their action when tightened or loosened when operating the stretchers. 4o

I am aware that staples and carryingrollers have been used in connection with tightening devices in this class of fences, and,also,that the corner-posts or" said fences have been provided with grooved rollers supported in vertical po- 45 sitions by brackets, and that the fence-wires have been stretched over said rollers. I do not, therefore, claim said constructions herein.

Having described this invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. In a fence, the combination,with the posts and wires, as described, of the stretchers secured to the posts and composed of a windingdruxn having a radially f notched flange, a socket bearing a keyseat, and an angular key or detent adapted to engage the notches of the said ilange, substantially as specified.

2. The casting having a tapering tang to en ter a post, and two parallel arms perforated at their outer ends, in combination with a frictionspool and thelocking-pin adapted to enter the perforatious of the arms, substantially as speciiied.l

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in 65 presence of two witnesses.

' JAMES MADISON KELLY.

`Witnesses: l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l CHARLES H'. PORTER, Giras. ZOLLEP., Jr. 

